i talked to some members that they will abandon their desire for spending cuts when the subject comes up. >> do you think there is enough conservatives to bring trouble for speaker john boehner when he brings something to the floor? >> absolutely. that is the biggest lesson of the 112 congress. he does not control them. people are adamant about holding themselves firm. i do not see how he brokers any deal. i don't just mean in a lame duck. if the make about the house is not change radically, i do not see how he broke is still in the 113 either. >> are they considering

>> they would certainly support it. there of this mind that there is something you want to avoid. the senate is concerned about this. the political calculation is he will probably be able to get the vote if you wanted to. he could rely on did a cripes. this could be catastrophic for him. >> are the conservatives, are there enough and services that are open to what they gang of 8 yes said to cut something bipartisan, are there enough conservatives to be open to this? >> it really depends somewhat they come up with. some of the freshmen are down

right dismissive. compromise is a dirty word to a lot of the more two-party mind measures. >> i think they are doa on the house. it is more bad publicity >> we have to leaf it . there thank you both. >> tomorrow a live debate between the candidates running for the u.s. senate seat in

ohio begins at 12:30 p.m. eastern. then at 7:00 p.m. we'll have a debate between the senate seat in indiana. that's tomorrow on c-span. >> on saturday a few of mitt romney's surrogates spoke at a rally for the republican presidential candidate near las vegas. one of them was new mexico governor who serves as the honorary co-chair of his outreach committee. this begins with some brief remarks who introduces his colleague from utah. from summerlin nevada this is about 10 minutes. >> this is a gentleman -- i've been in the united states senate for 17 months. this is a gentleman who took me

under his wings. this is someone i call a real trusted friend. this is someone when the republicans take the majority of the united states senate, this gentleman is going to be the chairman of the finances committee. what a difference. what a difference that will make for america. so let me introduce you. >> thank you so much. helller deserves election here. he's a terrific addition to the senate. so get out and tell everybody to vote for joe heller. they are really good candidates. what did you think of that romney debate?

the democrats couldn't admit they got beaten so they started calling him a liar. how about our boy paul ryan, wasn't he great? you can see what a great team they're going to make. vine a true policy walk. he's one of the brightest guys in the house of representatives. we can't wait to make him vice president of the united states. but mitt romney is the key to turning this country around. mitt romney everywhere he has gone, every job he's undertaken, he's been successful. this is a fellow of tremendous intellectle power, tremdausebrack ground, a background of success and a person who can pull this country out of the mess its in. and it's in a mess and it's not

going to get better if we lose and we're not going to lose. mitt romney is going to be the next president of the united states and paul ryan will be the next vice president. now i am very honored here to be with my two colleagues, with heller, he's making a great difference back there. but i am deeply honored to be with the governor here. she's a terrific human being, a republican winning in a democratic state in new mexico. they love her down. there she's going to make a difference in our race there. and we support her with everything we've got. i'm going to turn the mike back so he can introduce her. and we're greatful to have you all -- grateful to have you all

hair. let's turn this country around and let's do what is right. thank you so much. [applause] >> thank you very much. senator hatch does have other plans so he's going to have to excuse himself. thank you for taking time to be was as we work to move romney and ryan forward. thank you senator. two more events for senator hatch. he's doing a great job. [applause] >> we have some great governors, we have some great conservative republican governors in this country that are moving this country forward. we have the governor here in nevada. he does a tremendous job. we've had chris christie, everybody is doing a great job and we have another wonderful

governor here today and i'm so thrilled to have her here with us. now the governor understands what a tough race is. she understands what a tough race is and how tough it is here in nevada to move this same agenda forward. so helping me, i know what a tough race is and governor romney knows what a tough race is. and having everybody coming together like this having her leadership having the direction and how to get things done in this country, making the necessary changes in new mexico, moving new mexico forward is going to move america america forward. governor thank you very much for taking time and spending a few moments with us. thank you. >> thank you. thank you for such a warm kell woman in nevada.

ladies and gentlemen the next 24 days will define the next four years. and we will not take a defeat. we will win this election. you know that last debate t debate between the president and mitt romney, governor romney, what an amazing difference. when you don't have a record to run on, you don't have a whole lot to say. and that's what took place. governor romney had a record, he was strong talking about how successful he was as governor, how he turned his state around. and keep in mind 87% of his legitimate tors were democrats and he was still successful. he cut taxes 19 times. he was at the top for education for the kids in his state. we know he has a record that he can bring to the rost of the country and we know he is a leader and not a politician and that's what we need in america.

[applause] then look at paul ryan and you look at biden, oh my god. you know you sit there and you look at how intelligent and professional and what a respectful human being pool ryan was being during that and giving good information and good facts and all you could do is look at vice president biden and think what is so funny in reference to the security of our nation, what is so funny about making promises and not following through with a single one of them. do you remember president obama said he was going to cut -- he was going to cut the deficit in half during his first four years. did he do that? no, e he didn't. he said he was going to address immigration during his first year.

he hasn't even touched it until the last few weeks in order to do a political gain playing with the his panics in this country only because it's time to run for office and because i'm facing a tough election. and hispanic people can see through that. that is not what we want. i have all the faith in the world all of you have done a fabulous job. have you come from all over the country. and you've come here because you believe. i've got my deer friend from new mexico. all of you have come because you believe. knock on that door. there are democrats who will cross over. there are people who voted for president obama because they had that hope he would follow through on his promises. that's the difference between politicians and leaders. you follow through on what you promise and president obama has failed americans, all americans because he has not followed

through with what he said he was going to do. so that's why knocking on every door is important, that personal contact, make that extra phone call t. dem crots can and will cross over and vote for a republican who has a record, a proven record of following through with his promises and mitt romney is the very individual we need in the white house, someone who will deliver on those promises and make us proud, make us a strong nation, make us someone who will be secure from here on out. mitt romney is going to ensure that america is safe. mitt romney is going to make sure that america does not make any apologies, mitt romney is going to make america strong again and we are going to have a very strong leader. so please everything and anything you can do. it's hard work, i know it is. it can be long hours.

i have counted when i ran for office in new mexico on each and every volunteer from any part party that i could take, they believed that i could follow through, they were standing with me. so i know you can do the same thing. god bless everything you do. make sure this man gets back in the senate and we get him elect t as well and anybody that can help mitt romney and paul ryan and their agenda and make this the best country in the world. god bless you all. >> thank you governor. [applause] >> now that you've met the governor, i want to introduce her to you. some of the best volunteers in this country here today. thank you very much for your hard work and effort. you've got perfect weather to go forward. let's make sure this romney ticket works.

let's knock on doors and get these phone calls done. remember romney ryan, let's get this done. thank you. [applause] >> as the presidential candidates take a break from the campaign trail to prepare for next week's debate. on saturday deval patrick spoke for president obama in virginia. he was on y bus tour to register voters and to inform them on voting opportunities. deval patrick is a chairman of president obama's election campaign. this is about 25 minutes.

thank you very much. we have old dominion democrats. [applause] this is the best part about being an elected official. because you get to work with young people like this who are so enthusiastic i can about a campaign and they know that their future is depend nt upon who we elect as our next president and that is going to be -- >> hi everybody, i want to welcome you here not only to the city but to the great campus of old dominion university of which i and my husband are proud alums. so thank you for being here today. we have a very important function today. this is the last weekend for

voter registration and we are going to be on campus registering those last minute voters making sure we get out that vote for our president and to continue the good work ha our president has done. i want to welcome you today and then we have some very special visitors then i'm going to introduce our state party chair, brian. he is an old friend and he's done a great job making sure we get the vote out and have a win on november 6. brian. >> thank you very much. great job you're doing as well as a democrat so thank you very much. well, on behalf of virginia democrats we want to officially welcome the got to vote bus tour to virginia.

they are in virginia because this is the battleground common wealth of virge. it is so very important to get out the vote folks here in virginia because we know so goes virginia, so goes the nation. the radical romney ryan team cannot win without the common wealth of virge. so we must get the turnout for our candidate president obama on november 6. we encourage people to vote, right? why is that so very important? because in 2008, two out of three virginias voted. so when virginiaians vote, democrats win. it was the first time in 44 years that virginia helped

elect a democrat to the white house. and that's why i'm so very proud to be a member of a party, the democratic party that believes in full voter participation. we encourage people to exercise their right to vote. we don't pass laws that improse unnecessary barrieres to voting. so over these next 24 days we're encouraging everyone to get out and vote, democrats and republicans. but if you're a democrat you must go to the poll. and right here in norfolk, 70% of you voted and you delivered 70% of the vote for president obama. so get out the vote for president obama over the next 24 days. the deadline is october 15 together register. there is early voting going fon

you have an excuse. so we got to make sure we achieve that over 70% of the vote and we've got to make sure that we do indeed rethrect president. the choices are clear, they're stark, whether it's the economy, whether it's women's rights. the choices are clear. and we have some wonderful people behind me here to elaborate on those choices and art late those because those are stark for the nation. so first up, someone from the other common wealth, the common wealth of massachusetts, one who took the stage on the national stage at the convention and delivered a tremendous speech. i hope you got to see the governor's speech at the convention. he was kind enough to visit the virge delegation as well that morning. he's a terrific friend of virge. this is not the first time,

hopefully not the last time heel visit us. ladies and gentlemen give it up, governor deval patrick. >> thank you so much. sharon said when i got tauf bus i was supposed to come and tell you all the reasons you shouldn't vote for mimple. i can summarize that very easily. he flives massachusetts he governed massachusetts and president obama will win massachusetts by 20 points. enough said, we know him. we know what our choice is and we want everybody else to understand how important this choice is. because this is about what we do today to leave a better country for tomorrow. this is about generational responsibility and making the investments in time and money that we know will make a

stronger country. vesting in education because the world scommi in the middle of a knowledge explosion, investing in education because that is the growth opportunity we have in this country. investing in infrastructure because it supports everything else, roads, rails, broadband expansion. and we have a president who has committed to that. why in because it's simple, because the congress will say yes every time? no, because he knows that is the formula for enabling the american dream to survive for another nation. we need to be voting today and be thinking about getting our votes together for tomorrow in order to advance the american dream for another generation. that's why i'm for president obama. now i'm a great believer we get the government we deserve.

if the people of virginia and other americans sit it out and leaf it up to the handfuls of people who want this government to be concentrated in a few, we will get that government. but if we work at the grass roots and go and knock on doors and talk to our neighbors and co-workers and those cranky uncles we all v the folks you don't want to have that conversation with over thanksgiving dinner but to bring them into the conversation about common cause and common destiny. we are about everybody, not about turning our backs on half the country. we are about everybody and liffletting everyone up and that is why we stant with president obama. so i want to especially thank all the volunteers, those who are here and those whom you represent knowing that you are

going to get out and shake those hands and knock on those doors and make those phone calls. you especially because it is about a generation to come. it's about our responsibility in our time to do what we can to make a better country. i met a young man four years ago when he was organizing in iowa for a long shot candidate named senator barack obama and he did a great job then and with everything he touches. and he joins us today. michael. >> thank you. let's give another round of aplause to governor deval patrick. of all the places the governor could be, him being here in virginia 24 days before

election day shows the importance of virge. that's another reason why president obama is going to win on election day. to sharon it's always good to have people who remind us of why we do this work. someone who is committed and reminds us this is about everyday life and so thank you for what dow and thank you for all the volunteers and thank you to all the people here today. everyone let's be clear, this is a very clear choice that we have in this election about going forward or backward. and we all know that 24 days from today we have to go forward and elect president obama as our president. why? 32 million americans have healthcare right now because president obama stood up to make sure healthcare got done. [applause] in 24 days let's be reminded about what's at stake. it's because education is more

affordable so kids can go to school and graduate because of doubling pell grants and having a chance to go to school. in 24 days what is at stake is women's rights because a woman should be able to decide what to do with your body, not having someone tell you what to do. it's for the veterans who are here and all the communities who have a shot right now. the president for the 100% a president who has had our back and that is why virginia in 24 days have his back, re-elect president obama on november 6. when we think about what is at stake, we cannot be involved unless we're registered to vote and that is why we are all here

today. on monday october 15 it's the registration deadline for virge. you cannot be a part of this process unless you're able to register. when we think about what is at stake. many of us have been traveling around the country and some of us nrp north carolina and people were shaking hands and talking to individuals at that point. usually you go around and someone will hand out a lot of different business cards. however, in that stop she turned around around she realized there was something harder in her hand it was a health insurance card. and the woman said i had cancer. they told me i was a preexisting condition. they said nobody would cover me but because of the president i now have healthcare and i'm now cancer free and i just wanted to say thank you. so for the people of the great

common wealth of virginia, for the next 24 days, give 24 for 44. give 24 hours a day for the 44th president, make phone calls, knock on doors, remind our families what is at stake in this election. we cannot go back to the policies that got us into this mess. when mitt romney came in he left worse than he came in. that's why we're excited. because we have a job to do. 31 strithe months of job growth. doubling of pell grants, healthcare being provided to our communities. veterans who have a chance to be here. we cannot fall in the policies of romney ryan. when you ask yourself what is at stake who do you trust for your families and with your future and will have your back

have president obama back stand up for him one more time and continue to move forward with the policies of president obama. with that allow us to bring up someone who has been a champion been an al lie and a friend to us forsome years, someone who has stood by the side of the p president over the last few years. someone who can speak to his character and say he's the same man when we met him many years ago. let us bring up our brother mr. love. >> that was a fiery speech right there. so first and foremost thanks for everyone being here today. it's a beautiful day in norfolk. and this beautiful campus, it remind me of north carolina a little bit.

>> thank you for all your hard work. i've had the pleasure of working with president obama even before we all called him president. he was the same as he is now extremely intelligent, extremely diligent. he's a patriot that exexudes the type of leadership with need for our country. and it's not just about making the rich richer and leaving everyone in the dust. it's a vision that few work hard, you can get ahead, you can save, you can retire with dignity. that we are stronger and better together as a community. because this is a choice about your future, your parent's futures, your friends, your sisters, your brother's futures. this election directly impacts you.

with just weeks to go in this election, students and people all across virginia will face a clear choice for this generation. and you have the power to determine the direction that this country will go. your future, your direction, it mitt romney does not take this key state, if there is no way he can win the white house. he cannot do it. as virginia goes so does the rest of the country. that means mitt romney and paul ryan will pull out all the stops between now and election day. what does that mean for us? that means we have to outwork, out organize, out hustle, and all mobilized the competition.

-- and out mobilize the competition. every day we get out and register as many voters as they possibly can. we have this beautiful big bus here. you have to vote. check out the website. make sure all your friends and family know about it. on monday the deadline in. if you do not make it by monday your voice will not be heard. i hope you are going to vote for obama. most important is that people exercise their right to vote. you can volunteer on campus. you can come to our local office. the can help you get engaged in

this election. you need to be our messengers. we need you. this is it. it is game time. we all know how much of a competitor the president is. i played basketball with him. he hates to lose. the ground game is where he needs to be to win the election. no one wants to wake up and think what if i could have done a little bit more. what i did that watched every extra inning of the playoff game or i did not what every college football game on saturday? president obama is counting on you. students who cannot afford college education are counting on you. the senior said cannot afford to buy their life-saving prescriptions without obama are counting on us.

the middle class families are working hard every day to put food on the kitchen table. they are counting on us. i know you will help us finish the change that we started in 2008. thank you, everyone. we appreciate you being here. [applause] for everyone, thank you for being here. now we have work to do. now we have to finish the job you have no excuse. you are here. we want you to sign up. we want you to get engaged appeared for everyone here, we want to make sure you sign up for a shift to do voter registration. we have people ready to get people involved. we need everyone to sign up for another shift after that.

text va to 62262 or go to two different websites, gotta vote.com. you will go there and get information. or va.barackobama.com seeking get involved with this movement. anyone that is twitter, our va do you cansa_ get involved. everyone sign up for a shift. let's get people registered. but do what we need to do in the next 24 days to give barack obama reelected. [applause] >> fire it up. fire it up. >> of we're going to do it, we have to do it right. when we say fire it up, use a

fire it up. when we stand ready to go, you say ready to go. >> fire it up. >> fire it up. >> fire it up. >> fire it up. >> ready to go. >> ready to go. >> fire it up. >> ready to go. >> fire it up. >> ready to go. this thing, y'all. i appreciate you. thank you.

>> i am thrilled to came all the way down here. thank you. >> i am a community volunteer. thank you. >> thank you your for your hard work and being here today. it really means a lot. november 6 will be a huge day. >> a really well. >> is this your first time voting? >> yes. quite i remember my first time. thank you for being here. >> of course. i love it.

>> you're here in virginia campaigning. we have more. you cannot be out here keeping your eye on the crisis at home. >> i have been doing a lot. i have been on the pawn with secretary salazar and members of my own cabinet. really beendent's

over backwards -- bend sover backward. it is better. the president has a strong, affirmative case to make, which is grounded in a record of accomplishment and a vision for the future. >> so much of this detail of the second term.

>> his strategy is about growing jobs by doing his part. education, ecution innovation, and infra infrastructure.

>> we're going to give folks registered. we're going to do tell gates and stuff like that. we need more young student aid on doors and making phone calls. just one shift to go volunteer. >> great. >> all right. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012]

>> monday, at the hudson institute hosted a decision -- discussion about the role of rural communications. watch this event like that and got a.m. eastern. >> now a concerted view of the 2012 presidential campaign. this is 45 minutes.

>> good morning. >> dan right that this coming week may live up to the characterization that every week is a make or break it week. do you feel this week is a big one? >> in washington we give breathless at a lot of these things. i think it is important. foreign policy is an area that people have to prove that they can meet a certain threshold and are not completely out of their depth in terms of dealing with a lot of tricky situations around the globe. this will be the man from the opportunity to prove he can deal with the powder keg in the middle east.

based on what we have seen so far with the first debate, i feel pretty confident that may be the kind of thing where women get to it, our will say he comported himself pretty well in the first debate. it is bound to be very interesting on many levels. i suspect we will go through it and everyone will feel like you got two people a year. noem are due to a garbage. -- both of home are dealing with garbage. debatehere's a town hall at hofstra university and a final debate on foreign policy. as the candidates still the town hall format, what are you

watching for them to do? guest: i think that format will be pretty tricky for mid romney. president obama is very fluid and that at this year. he is very good at empathizing with voters and filling their paying. that is not something that mitt romney was ever good at. he is more robotic. he is less able to reach out like that. i think that will be interesting. there is a focus on the economy in the first debate when it romney did well. i will be watching him talk about things beyond just the thought. the romney campaign says he is

in -- has been involved in tons of town halls. guest: usually campaigns tried to downplay that. everybody is pleasantly surprised. we know that any doubt the present obama is very good that. things have become so highly partisan and are still a last couple of years. it is hard to see how much these things have an impact? i would argue that the first of a dead considerable impact. host: 1 on the columnists at "the boston globe" had this piece -- is he talking to the right or

the center right now? guest: remarkably, i would argue that he has stuck more closely to the right to than i think many people were predicting. many people thought as soon as he got through the primary, he would immediately tack back towards the middle. he really has not on many key issues. he has stuck closely to exactly what he said during the primary. with picking his running mate, paul ryan, conservatives or very happy with that. he has held every position and management -- imaginable on important issues from when he was governor of massachusetts. i think he sticks with his position. we have seen a whirling dervish

of his positions. i think that is tied to the position that he is seeking which is different. early in the primary, i assumed he would change his position day to day. i think it is more broad than that. politicians like to say that they are evolving their position.

mitt romney sat down last week and they talked about abortion. >> there is no legislation regarding abortion that i am familiar with. i would reinstate the mexico city policy which is that foreign aid dollars from the united states would not be used to carry out abortions and other countries. host: that is audio from his sit-down with the "desk moines register"board. >> his campaign has been very disciplined lately.

that was not the right place. the problem and should have not said under any circumstances. what i think it means is that he picked paul ryan as the biggest issue. he said he will put every bit of his efforts into that. once that is fixed, you can turn to other issues. that's probably a view that is shared by the vast majority of americans. you don't want to deal with abortion, that you are making that a secondary issue. for voters, that is a primary issue. it is about whether people live or die.

i was a very violence led community. -- they have a very pro-life community. host: is the headline from "politico." let's go to the phones. san marino, california, republican. caller: thank you for cspan. i want to get your impression over the whole thing that we

have been told our last, how many months that the race is locked in and there is this tie #independence who will sway the one where another. i was impressed that the first debate caused an impressive swing in the polls. do you think the race is all that locked in? i think there is a lot in play. >> that is a great question. i have a fairly different opinion than most of my colleagues in this town. i think it is somewhat blocked in of the jewish public opinion poll and ask people their vote for, that's a complicated question because there are issues answering questions and some people want to please people of other people want to not to please people.

president obama is heading into tough headwinds. people sort of dial in at later and later date. of course, it -- a poll will tell you that it is neck-and- neck. also pollsters' make more money. when people to in, they tend to make up their mind. i don't think there is a large group of super-intelligent independences who are paying

attention to every word and thinking that they still are not made up my their minds. they know who they will vote for. host: our guest at a column one month ago before the first presidential debate. if you go inside of that, it says --

guest: 0 or 3 poles come up every day and it seemed like that is all we talk about. if the election were held to more, who would you vote for? if the election were held tomorrow, we would be surprised. host: hear from jacksonville, fla., democrat line. caller: good morning to both of you. i am 76 years old and i have been a member of aarp since i was 65 and never have seen so clogged election. [inaudible] some of these people are ultra pro-obama. i went to a meeting and there was an aarp person there.

they had a slide show and it took controversy -- contributions for building out at the obama put it blaze in florida. after was over, they asked. one last question -- i quit watching fox news but are you still one of their softball superstars? guest: i go on occasionally. guest: i still play sometimes.

aarp has become -- it has become a lightning rod issue for them, the campaign. it is not clear how it will cut. john mccain did very well. he did well among voters in that category a year ago. president obama has gone all in trying to win over that period i would argue he has deployed some scare tactics. both sides have done this to some degree to scare our elderly voters about what will happen to medicare and social security. for every one of those i have heard, i have also heard accounts of people going to meetings like this.

i would be surprised - when you look at the election, you ask yourself how many people voted for john mccain last time who will vote for president obama this time. outside of examples like that, i do not know i have met anybody who falls into that category. the people who voted for obama last time who will vote for romney this time, those people are not that hard to find.

host: he used to work at the washington post. he covered the political rise of senator john and works and his political aspirations. he worked for the detroit news for six years. comments are coming in about the comments mitt romney made to the register about abortion. one says it was a generous assessment. others would have said he lied. no abortion legislation should be. news for those liberals concerned they would be made illegal. is he demoting some who will not come out on election day? guest: his connection to them is tenuous. in his view has evolved 180 degrees for 1 u.s. governor of massachusetts. i think there is something else

going on. president obama has managed to alienate those voters. it reminds me of one president clinton was running for reelection. i am telling my kids you are not supposed to use this word, but they hated him. it blinded them. they wound up making some bad decisions. bob dole campaign was hexed from the start. i think they are more motivated in their desire to see president obama removed. i think they have managed to do a better job of focusing their

energy in a positive way. given his quirks and inability to relate to a earthlings, as it often seems like he is trying to do, he should not be doing well. given the fact we have the bad economy, crushing debt, and problems abroad, he is coming off as a tactician who says he will fix these problems. he is doing well. people on the far right are happy with that. host: william joins us from texas. caller: i am so happy to get through.

this is my first time. if mitt romney were president and he went to war, would you have your kids go to war with him? guest: i think mitt romney will have to make that case and prove he is able to make large decisions on that level of politics. he is growing questions about what the administration knew and the decisions they made about security in benghazi and afterwards to insist it was not a terrorist action.

i think all of that will give mitt romney a strong opening. it remains to be seen. based on his performance in the first debate talking about the economy, i suspect he will do well. host: are you still with us? caller: in 1968, he went to paris, france. i do not consider him a leader. guest: it was for a peace corps type thing the mormon church does. you could probably dig up things i have written making fun of anyone who goes to live in paris. he has done a good job of defending that and making the argument he was doing a

terrible thing and fulfilling a public service requirement of the mormon church. that speaks to another thing. during the primary, i was highly skeptical he would be able to get beyond his mormonism with the christian voters. it is remarkable how he has managed to make it not be an issue. a lot of it has to do with the business of explaining not the differences between warm innocent and the other christian -- mormonism and the other christian faith, but all of the stories that have come

out about his charity work and the generosity, and things like that, which would include the mission work in paris. i think it allays the fears some people have about him being part of a cultish religion when it is just part of being in a christian religion. host: the legal attack on the diplomatic mission in libya has created an unexpected casualty. the white house hopes president obama will remain unscathed on foreign policy issues in the presidential race. guest: it is especially difficult. one thing president obama ram on fort years ago is he had a -- four years ago is he had a

unique ability to reach out to the muslim world and make things better. i believe that. based on speeches he has given and some of the stagecraft suggesting president obama has moved the u.s. away from israel, it has opened a new rift. the situation in libya, because we're dealing with islamic extremists who committed a terrorist attack and assassinated our ambassador, it speaks to the larger issue of whether president obama will make things better in the middle east.

i would argue he has not. i would argue he made things worse. anyone would agree things are not better their than before he took office. host: let's go to debbie. caller: i am from michigan. i appreciate your comment about a earthlings. i am one of those earthlings. i do not understand why none of the media has picked up on what romney said in the debate when president obama was talking about tax breaks for moving overseas. mitt romney said he needed to get a new accountant. like the man needs another tax break. that is all i got today. thank you for taking my call. guest: that was one of my

favorite parts of the first debate. romney is not good at the jocular line. he was in michigan when he observed the trees are the right height. it was bizarre. i think he was kidding and tried to make small talk. that nerdiness has turned out to cut in his favor a bit. the line about needing a new account month was an occasion when it worked. host: i was going to ask charles if he has thought about what obama has come over the last four years.

the attorney general was questioned. he was questioned with lies. you have not said anything about his lies and the attorney general. what is going on with the thought? guest: the botched gun run into mexico is a fascinating issue. literally people have died and been killed with these guns moved across the border in hopes of tracking down these gunrunners. host: operation fast and furious. guest: the investigation -- it has been a disaster.

it is up to the department of justice to make sure the investigations did not get to the bottom of it. i have always been skeptical about how much -- i think it enrages the already enraged. i do not think it is an issue that will unify people further on the left to be against president obama, certainly not to the degree the economy does. if you do not have a job or your neighbor does not, that is a unifying issue, unlike cost and furious. -- fast and furious. host: let's listen to more comments. this is a conversation last week. they talk to robin nation's

debt and deficit. let's hear what mitt romney had to say. [video clip] >> the approach is similar to bowles-simpson. bowles-simpson said to lower the rate to make it possible for small businesses to grow, but we will also limit exemptions. they put up different alternatives. i am open to the ideas they put out in bowles-simpson, that kind of approach. host: mitt romney open to bowles-simpson. guest: anytime you have a blue ribbon commission, especially if it is dealing with massive rearrangement of how the government spends money, it will be a tricky sort of thing for a politician before an election.

host: is it a dangerous issue when trying to garner tea party support? guest: i think it is savvy on his part. the bowles-simpson commission was a blue panel. president obama called together. they came up with a lot of hard decisions nobody liked. then he dismissed it and went on his way. i think it could be tricky. i think it is savvy in one respect. mitt romney is running on the idea he will make tough decisions, that he is not going to skip out on major decisions that turn the giant battleship in a different direction so we're not heading towards

insolvency. i think it is smart because the resort is needed. -- that is what is needed. i think people are convinced major drastic decisions are going to have to be made. they need to know they are voting for a guy who can make them as opposed to a guy people feel confident is not making them. host: they write in and say the ones who lost are the american people. we get played by the two-party system the bankers own. it is a tea party hashtag. guest: this time of year watching baseball, no matter who's commercial comes up, they drive you crazy. it would be smart if somebody

would come up with silent campaign ads, something not nearly as annoying that made you want to pull your hair out. it could be something you are in love with, but the onslaught of them, and the the junk mail that comes in every day through the post office. i heard that the post office averted bankruptcy by couple months because of the influx of junk mail. that says something in terms of everything in terms of the federal government. it drives people insane. i think everyone will be glad when it is over. host: vita, independent caller, california. caller: what drives me crazy is we have people on tv like that gentleman just justifying

everything mitt romney says or everything that happens in the media against president obama without having the true facts. when you listen to c-span or watch the index, it was so disrespectful and discussed in to watch grown men who are supposed to be addressing the country who do not know how each government function operates. we have embassies across the world and that you can hold one person accountable in the government for everything that happens. that is not democracy. for you to justify mitt romney's flip flops and how he will be a president and what he will stand for, to justify

everything about calling him on it is wrong. you are a journalist. you are in the media. you are putting out information to the people. you should be held accountable for your actions, for what you say and do. host: tell us about your column and respond to the comments. guest: the name of my column is "the nuclear option" for a strange reason. it is supposed to be cut and dried, and more outraged perspective on things. sometimes amazed slipover into

being disrespectful. i do not mean to. i think if you go back and look at the columns i have written the past couple of years about mitt romney, i do not think you would find i have spent a lot of time sticking up for him. although i do think he has been running a fairly big campaign the last couple months. the fact he managed to get through the primary still amazes me. but he did finally get through it and i think is running a good campaign. it is my opinion, which is particularly scary to think about. a lot of people, my wife to begin with, and say i do not deserve an opinion. but anyway, it is all my opinion. host: vita was talking about

the facts and her concerns about mitt romney. guest: you are dealing with the candidate who was governor of massachusetts, a fairly liberal state. when he left office, he had done what a lot of people wanted him to do. turning from massachusetts to running for president as a republican, he will have to change a lot of positions, so he did. it is worth noting it is not like he is constantly changing his positions every two weeks. he really has kind of changed them all and seems to be sticking with them. the inartful comments he made in des moines did not signal to

make a change in position. he was saying what a huge number of conservatives have been whispering about. you are not supposed to say it, about the need to deal with the fiscal crisis before you do anything else. that was stupid of him to say that, but i do not think it reveals a particular change in position. it is the one most prevalent that i hear among conservatives, even social conservatives that realized most important thing, the most important social progress for people is to have a good economy. without that, and specifically for america to have a great economy, without that, the world loses a very important

place that believes in individual rights and freedom. host: maverick writes that romney's positions have been evolving. guest: i would say he is a flipper more than a flip flopper. he should stick with that. host: henry is a democratic caller from michigan. caller: i am calling from port huron. this is disgusting. charles is a political hack and always will be. mitt romney lied in the debate. the only truthful thing he said in the entire debate was he had five sons who live.

-- lied. the truth does not fall far from the tree. mitt romney should not be doing as well as he is. the only reason is because we have a bunch of right-wing white supremacist confederates, not conservatives, confederates who only want to see the black man out of office. this man has done his very level best to make this country -- host: let's let charlie hurt respond. guest: that is an astonishing and sad thing to hear. i covered president obama four years ago and was one of those reporters -- i believed a lot of what he said. i thought he was a very promising new kind of figure who changed the tone of washington. he did not change the tone of

washington. he did not make good on any of the promises he made coming into the white house. also remember for the first two years of his presidency, he had a huge majority in the house of democrats. he had a huge majority in the senate. at one point, it was even filibuster-proof. did he cut spending? no. he did not do any of these things. for the following two years, he still had a majority in the senate. things have gotten tougher for him in the house, but it is not like -- he ran everything. he ran the whole town. he could have gotten things done. the knock against him mitt romney made about how he put all his eggs into obamacare instead of fixing other things is a smart avenue.

for people to turn this into race, i would argue those who think this is about race and people not liking somebody because of the color of their skin, i think those people should look in the mirror and ask themselves who is being racist, who is the one trying to bully an electi based on the color of someone's skin. host: one of your recent columns suggest mitt romney should only run for one term. you are encouraged him to make that announcement. you think that would be a game changes. do you still want him to do that? why would it be significant?

guest: a lot of decisions you have to make. the reason obama walked away from simpson bowles --politician is to not want to make decisions that are going to upset people. but import decisions have to get made. i think it would be -- mitt romney's best chance, i think, not for winning but for fixing things, is to simply come in as a turnaround artist, which he has billed himself as. there is evidence that suggests he has been good at that. he made a lot of money doing that. but i think if he were to come in, spend four-bangers, make those decisions, -- for years, whether it is adopting simpson bowles or what ever to turn us

around so you are heading away from insolvency. our social programs would head away from insolvency, which is just a few years away. i think you could get it done. do it, and he could walk away with a sterling record. >host: let's hear one last caller -- buffalo, new york, republican. caller: i never even took a sip of the kool-aid as far as obama. we're talking about what is going on with the election. in my opinion, obama has never in his life in challenged by anyone. you have the story about him and hillary -- they pulled back like nobody's business. the last caller, is patriotism

the last refuge of scoundrels? no, now is calling someone a racist. i personally believe that we are going to see in not done of this man. we cited in the first ave. this emperor had no clothes. -- we saw it in the first debate. what happened in benghazi, an absolutely disgusting mess. you say you are fascinated by dead americans in mexico and benghazi? please. i know somebody will call me a racist, but this man is not normal. we have 2000 in afghanistan dead, and i have no idea for what. osama bin laden has been killed for a year or two -- i thought that is what we are doing. host: i alaska response and some historical perspective on at --

let's get a response and some historical perspective on afghanistan. guest: he did not vote for obama the first time, obviously. so he is not going to vote for him this time. that is not where the election will turn. the election will turn for people who voted for obama the last time. in terms of his debate performance the other day, it is fascinating to watch them try to defend his four years. president obama is good at talking about what he was going to do before he came in. he did a very poor job in defending what he has done. it is fascinating, because he was so unmagical. there was no hint of the 2008 president obama when he was on the debate stage. no hint of the old sunny, great

speaker we saw four years ago. in terms of afghanistan -- host: the caller seemed angry about that. guest: i would imagine that a lot of the people who supported president bush in 2004 against john kerry, they probably do not have a huge beef with the way president obama has executed the war, terror in afghanistan. i think there are a lot of complaints boss where, but in terms of the drone strikes and going after osama bin laden, the overwhelming desire to get out of all these places, i do not think that will be a big issue in the election. guest: recent columns -- "obama

the debater, making jimmy carter look awesome." the other, "introduced into america the real barack obama." you can find that on at the real -- on the "washington times" website. guest: thanks for having me. >> tomorrow on "washington journal," al cardenas offers a conservative view in the campaign. then bob deans said energy issues in the 2012 campaign. and the executive director of the american public health association talks about the federal funds used to help states and localities prepare for public health emergencies. "washington journal," live at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. >> see the second presidential debate, a town hall form,